Before Whom Evil Trembles
by Elfin1993
Summary: The life of Amy Harkin went from blissfully normal to chaotic in the few months after the first death of her best friend. But Chloe is not the only one with ancient descent, and Amy's life becomes far more complex than she could have ever imagine.
1. Prologue

**I'm giving a TV fanfic a go here. I love Nine Lives, but I always seem to have an affinity with the overlooked best friend, so I'm tweaking the story to focus on Amy and expanding the mythology. Hope people enjoy and please review.**

**PS Sorry the Prologue is so short, the other chapters will be longer**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Nine Lives (well duh)**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

**Amy's POV**

You know that phrase, 'be careful what you wish for'? Well, it's always bugged me. I mean, why be careful, it's not like those wishes come true, and people who say it always look so smug and superior and make you feel about two inches tall. But with hindsight, that lone sentence may have been the single most apt and infinitely wise thing anyone had ever said to me; but no one ever did. For me I had to learn the hard way that wishing for something in a small pathetic envious part of you mind and then that wish colliding full force with your perfectly normal bubble life are two entirely different things. And to have it happen twice within the space of mere months just took the piss.

It all started when my best friend, Chloe, died and came back to life, then found out she was essentially the messiah of the Mai - some weird Egyptian God species descendent of Bastet - along with the hottest and most off-limits guy in our school and his cousin. And then teen superhero hijinks ensued, including a creepy organisation hell bent on the Mai's ultimate downfall and Chloe's second death of nine. And all the while I, Amy Harkin, was the cliché envious Robin to her super-cool Batman. I longed to be the courageous, independent heroine who had boys falling all over her. All I got was Paul, and God love him, he was never going to inspire epic romance.

But that's Chloe's story, not mine. No mine began on that stupid date with Jonah, wanting to bring a bit of danger into my comparatively dull life. I had never been more scared when that man grabbed me. But it was when he threw me into that chair and locked the door that something just… snapped. I went from panicked to calm and collected in the space of a second. The men who, mere minutes before had put the fear of God in me seemed puny and pathetic. I rose from my seat and the men rushed for me, but there movements seemed sluggish. I don't remember much of the fight itself; something inside me just took over. I wasn't timid little junior Amy, who lived in the shadow of her best friend. And then the door smashed open, and Chloe and Paul rushed in. Yup, that's where my story starts...


	2. Chapter One

**Here we go, a real sized Chapter. Next update may take a bit longer though. Please Review :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**Alek's POV**

Why did Chloe have to be so infuriatingly hot headed? She berates me for watching her and treating her like a child, but as I chased after her to God knows where, I had never felt more certain that her judgement was one not to be trusted. One that involved no thought at all never was. When I arrived at a building in China Town, I was just in time to see a wisp of red fabric disappear through an open door, and here the unmistakable sound of a door being kicked open. How she managed to be such a gluten for danger was beyond me, but now was not the time to ponder that flaw in her character. I raced down the corridor and through the now splintered door and stopped dead next to Chloe and Paul. Whatever I had been expecting to find, this was not it. For standing in the middle of the room was Chloe's little human friend Amy inside a circle of bloodied and beaten men, and cowering in the corner was a human boy I vaguely recognised from school.

But she didn't look the same. Far from the fiery but ultimately weak human girl I had grown to know, the Amy that stood before us was in a battle stance, blood covering her hands, her normally neat and sleek hair hanging messily in front of her face as she eyed us. I glanced at Chloe and saw her looking as shocked as I was, and Paul looked like he was going to be sick. Clearly, this was too much for the friends to handle, so I stepped up to the plate.

Being careful to keep my body language open, I took a cautious step towards Amy, her attention snapping to me as soon as I moved. "Amy?" I asked, carefully taking a few more steps, but keeping my gaze fixed on hers. She watched me with calm calculating eyes, but slowly I saw the cool recede and the usual fire that blazed from her ice blue eyes returned. Her posture relaxed and she looked around the room, before turning an accusing eye on Chloe and I.

"Jesus Christ, what the _hell_ did you guys do?" she asked, looking almost sick at the sight before her.

Me and Chloe exchanged a confused glance, and Chloe moved to my side, holding her dress high to avoid the blood and bodies. "This… this wasn't us Amy. It was like this when we got here."

"Then how did- how - I-I - " Amy glanced around her in panic, her whole body visibly shaking.

At this point the boy from the corner got up skirting slowly around the wall towards the door, trying to keep as much room between him and us as possible. Amy's attention was drawn to the movement, and she made to move towards him. But no sooner had she taken a step did the boy throw his hands out and yell, "Don't you dare come near me you crazy bitch! I don't want you anywhere near me to do to me what you did to them!" He then ran, and Amy just stood, struck dumb by what he'd just said. I think we all had a bit. It was obvious really, that Amy was the cause of the chaos, but none of us really wanted to believe it.

Amy turned slowly, guilt and fear covering her face. "How is that possible?" she whispered, her eyes desperately searching mine for answers, some indication that this made some sense to me that it didn't to anyone else. And in that moment I wanted nothing more than to be able to give her that comfort. For as much as I mocked her and belittled her for being human, and no longer fitting into Chloe's life, the petite sixteen year old had never once been beaten down by crap; never had I seen a flicker of doubt in her icy eyes. But stood before me was an Amy who seemed to have lost all that confidence and it killed me to say what I had to say next, knowing it wouldn't in the slightest way bring back some of the fire she usually had.

"I don't know." I answered with a sigh. "I've never seen anyone who isn't Mai do something like this." Her whole body seemed to crumple at that statement, and she fell to the floor like a puppet cut from its stings. I rushed on, hoping to give her some hope of answers, even though I honestly didn't know if we'd find any. "But I'm not the expert here; Valentina's who we need to talk to." I glanced at Chloe desperately, hoping she would help me out. To my luck, she seemed to have recovered from her earlier shock.

"He's right, Amy. We need expert opinions." She then moved forward and aimed to help Amy up, but as soon as she touched her Amy flinched away. A second later she was by the door, having moved even quicker than my Mai senses could comprehend.

"You heard Jonah, this was me. I too dangerous to be around and I can't be responsible for hurting one of you." Tears ran down her cheeks as she spoke.

"You won't," Chloe said confidently, "I know you won't. But you need to let us help." Her voice then dropped to a whisper, thick with emotion and venerability. "Amy, you have to let me help you, how can I be your best friend if I don't?"

A sad smile flickered across Amy's face, "And how can I be your best friend if I let you put yourself in danger to get me help that may not even exist."

But Chloe was having none of it. She ran forward, trying to stop Amy by force.

"Chloe, no!" I yelled, but it was too late. As she reached for Amy, the tiny brunette threw out her hand, which hit Chloe square in the chest, sending her flying across the large room. As Chloe got up, wincing slightly as she did, a look of horror crossed Amy's face.

"I'm so sorry." she sobbed, and then she was gone. Chloe made to go after her, but I grabbed her round the waist.

"Chloe, no." I said firmly, keeping my grip on her. "We're no match for her. We need to go see Valentina."

"But I can't just leave her!" Chloe yelled. But after a minute or so of struggling, Chloe calmed. I let go and spun her round, giving her my best 'I'm not fucking around' faces.

"We need to understand this if we have any chance of calming Amy, and you know I'm right." Chloe nodded, her jaw clenched. Her head then snapped round to Paul.

"Go home. If anyone asks, Chloe is staying at Jasmine's with me over boy related crises. I'll call her mum. If she comes to see you, you call me right away." Paul nodded and left. Chloe then turned back to me, her green eyes determined. "Let's go talk to Valentina." She said.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**Alek's POV**

We made it to the flat in record time, both running flat out the entire way. Our rushed entrance caused Jasmine to rise from her seat, a look of serious confusion on her face as she took in our grim expressions. Before she could say a work I said, "Where's Valentina?"

"She's at some meeting with all the district heads, but she'll be back about 10. What happened?" Her eye's flickered to Chloe, making the logical assumption that our behaviour had something to do with our reluctant Uniter. Chloe and I glanced at each other, both at a loss as to how to explain the confused events of that evening.

After a minute, Chloe sighed and said, "You explain, I need to do some cover-up calling." She then moved to the other side of the room, trying to get as much privacy as possible in the open-plan kitchen-living-dining room. As she did, I made my way to the couch, sinking slowly into it and running an agitated hand through my hair. Jasmine settled beside me, her face serious and expectant.

I turned slightly to face her, and tried to think of a semi-coherent way of explaining something that I honestly didn't understand. "I was watching Chloe, and about half an hour ago she ran out of the Gala towards China Town. Of course, I followed. We ended up at this old warehouse and inside…" I paused, trying to find a somewhat decent description of what we found, but there was no way of making it sound any less bazar than the whole situation already was. "Look this doesn't make sense, but we found Amy in the middle of the room surrounded by these bloodied up men, with some human boy cowering in the corner."

Jasmines eyebrows lowered in confusion. "So, something attacked these men, but left Amy and this guy…" She trailed off as I was already shaking my head.

"No. That's what I thought first too, but Amy was in serious battle stance, and she had blood on her hands… then this guy started yelling that she did it and ran away like the hounds of hell we on his heels. And then she freaked and started to run, and Chloe tried to stop her-"

"Oh God, is Amy okay?" Jasmine interrupted, clearly still not catching on.

"No, Jas. You're not getting it. Amy pushed Chloe away, and Chloe went _flying_. Amy didn't even have to make an effort. But the whole think clearly scared the shit out of her because she ran. But we couldn't go after her, because clearly we are no match!" At this point, I had begun pacing, frustration coursing through me, making me restless.

We stayed in silence for a while, Jasmine clearly trying to make sense out of what I'd told her. Chloe came in about five minutes later and flopped down in my vacated seat.

"You told her?" She asked, nodding towards Jasmine. I nodded my head and continued pacing. She then turned to Jasmine. "Any of this making some sense to you that it doesn't to us?"

Jasmine shook her head slowly. "I'm all savvied up on Mai history, but this clearly isn't Mai. But if anyone knows, it's Mum. She knows pretty much everything there is to know on almost every life form on the planet. Our best chance is to wait for her."

And so we waited, none of us bothering to make conversation; all to engrossed in our own thoughts. Mine flitted from trying fruitlessly to find something in my mythological knowledge that fit what I had seen, to worrying about where Amy was and what she was doing. With her powers and her current state of mind, she was clearly a threat to pretty much anyone who crossed her. I started to wonder if maybe I should have followed her, and let Chloe come back to get information. But I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop Amy if something happened, and that thought seriously unnerved me. I had never encountered anything that was remotely a match for me, let alone clearly outranked my abilities.

At just passed 10, the door opened and all our heads snapped up. Valentina entered, her dark hear pulled back. The sight of our faces clearly put her on edge, because she was all business when she said, "What happened?" And just like Jasmine her gaze settled on Chloe, clearly expecting her to be the source of our tension.

I recounted the night's events as quickly and clearly as I could, eager for answers. By the time I had finished, Valentine's face was pale and her eyes were more serious than I had ever seen them. "That's not possible." She stated. The statement annoyed me, seeming entirely pointless.

"Well evidently it is. It happened." I said, exasperated. Then more seriously I said, "What do you know?"

For a minute she disappeared into her office - or archive as me and Jasmine like to call it - and came back with a papyrus scroll. She laid it out on the coffee table, and we all gathered round. On it was a depiction of an Egyptian Goddess in a red dress, with the face of a lioness a sun headdress, standing over a battle field, flaming arrows falling on the people as the cowered in a field of the dead, a river running red along the bottom.

"Sekhmet?" Jasmine asked, clearly confused.

Valentina nodded, "_The Lady of Slaughter_," she said, "claimed to be the daughter of Ra, she was one of the most feared and worshiped warrior Goddesses of Egypt. Not only did she rain terror on the kingdom, but she also acted as healer, and was the Goddess of Healing in the Upper Kingdom."

"What does this have to do with Amy?" I asked, fearful of her response.

"It is said, that there will one day be a great war between the humans and the descendants of the Gods of Pharaohs; the humans and the demi-Gods. In this battle the Daughter of Sekhmet will be born to raise terror on both sides. Before her, the evil will tremble, and they will perish, only to leave the righteous few, who will be healed by her love and allowed to live in the time of peace to follow."

"So Amy is a demi-God?" Chloe asked, but I was certain that wasn't the answer.

"No. The reason the Mai have survived so long, and have caught the attention of humans like the Order, is because we are the most powerful of all the demi-God races; the most dangerous. Only the Daughter of Sekhmet would have greater power than a member of the Mai, let alone the Uniter. If Amy was a strong as you said she was, this is the only possibility. But for the Uniter and the Daughter of Sekhmet to live within the same lifespan is not meant to happen. All prophecies of the Uniter claim that she will unite the races of Mai and human to fight against the Creatures of Heaven."

We all sat in silence for a moment, each contemplating this potential Armageddon. Jasmine finally broke the silence. Looking at her mother, she said, "But what if they were meant to be of the same time? You said the good of both sides will be saved, but what is there to unite them? Maybe it's Chloe's destiny to live through this battle and be the one to Unite those who are deemed worthy by the Daughter of Sekhmet?"

Valentina sighed, gathering the scroll. "Maybe. This is not my area of expertise. There is much that has been foretold which is not known fully by the Mai. But one thing is certain. Amy is the Daughter or Sekhmet, which makes her incredibly dangerous. We need to keep her watched at all times, and kept away from humans as much as possible. We have no idea what she is truly capable of." And with that, she was all action; never one to waste time. "Jasmine and Alek you go find Amy. But do not try to beat her by force. She needs to trust us. Chloe you stay here." Chloe began to protest, but Valentina cut her off. "No. I need to go talk to some people about this and we need someone here if Amy comes here." Before anyone could say anything more, Valentina had grabbed her keys and the scroll and was out the door.

Jasmine and I made to follow, but Chloe grabbed my arm. "I have to go with you, she'll trust me more." She said as I turned to face her.

"No." I said, shaking off her hand. "Valentina's right, but it's not just that. Me and Jas are expendable. It sounds horrible, but it's the truth. You however are not. You need to get used to the idea that your life is so much bigger than what you want, so much more important than everyone else's." Her face darkened as I spoke, but I didn't bother to try and apologise. As hard as it was, she needed to hear it and the current situation made that fact even more important than before. Now was not the time for flirting or sugar coating, it was the time for hard truths and she needed to start hearing them.

"Fine." She said crossing her arms, and narrowing her eyes, "But I'm calling Paul to come over, because you need to start accepting that just because your way isn't always going to be the way it is. Paul and Amy are family, and perhaps if you'd dropped the superiority act and accepted that, Amy would have felt safe enough to stay with us."

I glared back, her words hitting more sore spots than I'd care to admit. "We'll call you when we're on our way back." Then I stormed out. As I opened the door, I heard Jasmine whisper to Chloe. "Don't worry, we'll find her. He may not show it, but Alek cares more than most people. We'll keep her safe."


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

**Amy's POV**

I'd never noticed how nice the cold night air feels, how beautiful the city looked in the night. Odd how, with my life falling apart at the seams and being devoured by chaos, I was starting to notice things I never had. But being so high up, so away from the rest of the world, of _my _world, I found my focus being completely drawn away from the masochistic thoughts in my mind. I'd always found comfort in high places, found myself and my problems seeming small in comparison with the world around me. And in San Francisco the best place to go for height was the Coit Tower.

_"You can't live without the fire, it's the heat that makes you strong. Coz you're born to live and fight it all the way…" _ I sang, the familiar tune falling from my lips as I walked in circles on the edge of the Towers open roof, a small part of my brain wondering - almost comically - how I had gotten up here in the first place.

After running from the warehouse, my panic had overtaken my sense, seizing control of my body and taking me to a place of comfort - the Coit Tower. And before I'd even had the time to register it, I found myself crouched on the tall structures roof. I should have been terrified, screamed for help, clung to the building for dear life. But instead, the cool are brushed my face, pulling strands of hair to float around my head and I stood. I closed my eyes, allowing the sensation to calm me. And then I took a step forward, and another, following the circle of the building as my body relaxed, almost hypnotised by the motion. For once, my brain, which always seemed to go at a million miles an hour, was slow, my thoughts positively lethargic.

My trance-like state was broken by the sound of someone running towards the tower. I shouldn't have been able to make out more than a vague human outline, but I could see Alek's dirty blonde hair and serious eyes as clearly as if he was standing right next to me. He looked up, brown eyes widening as he saw me.

"Shit, Amy!" He yelled, "Just… just stay there, I'll come up and help you."

"No need." I said, knowing he could hear my just fine. And then I took a step forward, my brain still way beyond reasonable thoughts and actions. The fall, which I know was only a few seconds, seemed slow in my eyes giving me plenty of time to brace myself, moving my weight to the balls of my feet, away from my spindly stiletto heels, and bending my knees as I graceful landing a few feet in front of Alek. His face was like a storm, a mix of anger, surprise and… fear. The last one caused me to smile; the great Alek was afraid for me.

"Fucking hell, Amy! That could have killed you, just like it did Chloe, and I'm not sure the Daughter of Sekhmet has the disposable lives like the Uniter!" He yelled, clearly pissed off. But I hadn't really been listening after 'Daughter of Sekhmet'

"What did you call me?" I asked my voice quiet and panicked even to my own ears. Alek looked confused for a second, clearly not have put much conscious thought into his little rant, then clarity dawned in his brown eyes. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, looking away for a minute. When he turned back, his expression was open and tired. Clearly the night's events had started to catch up on him.

"Let's get back to the flat, I'll explain everything there." He said wearily. But as he walked away, I stayed where I was. He noticed I hadn't followed, and turned. "What?"

"Chloe's there, isn't she?" He nodded, clearly confused by the question. Looking down, I mumbled, "I can't face her. She- I-" I let out a shuddered breath, frustrated at my own tattered emotions giving me away. Then I looked up, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek. But as I spoke, my voice was firm. "I don't want to be around her until I can be sure I won't hurt her again."

Alek nodded in understanding. "I don't think you will, but if you want we can get a coffee, and I'll tell you what I know. Then, if you feel okay to go back with me, we'll grab so take-out and head back. Deal?" He offered a hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Taking his hand and walking down the few steps that separated us, I smiled. When I reached the bottom, I took back my hand and nodded. "Deal."


	5. Chapter Four

**Sorry for the wait everyone, University gives me very little time to do anything other than study. Hopefully I'll find some time to write more soon. Hope it was worth the wait :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

**Alek's POV**

While Amy waited at the table in the 24-hour diner we had stopped in to order coffee, I slipped down the corridor leading to the toilets and the fire exit to call Jasmine. I had no intention of letting Amy leave alone, but I wasn't going to force her into going anywhere she didn't want to be. I knew Valentina wouldn't be happy, but I'd never been one hundred percent on board with her 'try the nice way first, and if that doesn't work, take away the other options' methods. People were silly, and fickle, but in situations like these I'd still not experienced the hard-line approach working without at least one casualty. I wanted Amy to trust us, to come to us for help of her own volition, not because we'd backed her into a corner. Not - I suspected - that anyone could force Amy into any corner she couldn't fight her way out of. Even when I'd thought her human, I held a respect for Amy in the way that she wasn't fazed by our Mai sales line. To Amy, there was always another option; if someone didn't like option A, then it wasn't an option, no matter how logical. Jasmine was on board with the plan. She promised to keep Chloe in the flat, until we - or I if I couldn't gain enough of Amy's trust - got back.

Sliding back into the booth opposite Amy, I picked up the coffee, taking a long sip in an attempt to stall for time. But Amy was clearly having none of it.

"So I'm the Daughter of Sekhmet?" She said, her voice bland and impartial. Her shaking hands, however, gave her away.

"According to Valentina, it's the only possible explanation. And before the twenty questions begins, it's not much of an explanation. Apparently the knowledge of the Daughter of Sekhmet is sorely lacking. What I can tell you is that you are far more powerful than all of us, and that makes you more dangerous." Looking up from my now empty coffee cup, I looked into Amy's eyes, no longer having the energy to sugar coat what I had to say next. "We can't _make _you do anything, but I can guarantee that if you walk away from here now and refuse our help, you will have at least one Mai following you everywhere you go. You have powers that you don't fully comprehend and obviously don't have full control over. Until you do, you're a danger not only to the Mai and humans, but anyone who rubs you up the wrong way."

The terror in Amy's eyes nearly broke my composure, the no-nonsense façade I'd been keeping to try and impress the importance of what I was saying. Clearly, it had worked. Because Amy's face grew darker as the weight of what I had said set in. I wanted to comfort her, to tell her it would be okay, but I honestly didn't know if I could. I needed her trust, and for that I needed to be brutally honest.

"So what's my purpose, then?" she asked, her voice as serious as mine. I didn't answer, not sure how I could, but she wasn't in the mood for waiting. "There's always a great purpose for those with awesome titles, right?" She said, lightly sarcastically. "I mean Chloe's the Uniter, go figure her purpose. But what's mine? Daughter of Sekhmet is quite as telling." Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her hair and began shredding the napkin in front of her.

I sighed, knowing that this bout of honesty would make or break the progress I'd made with my no nonsense explanations. I'd been hoping to avoid this part until I'd persuaded her to go back to the flat, but I should have never have underestimated her. "Essentially you are the judgement maker. On the day of reckoning - or as close to it as we'll ever get, anyway - there will be a great war, and when it comes you will be the one who picks the worthy from the worthless." I watched her face closely, getting ready for her to break, to tell me it was too much and run. Any sane person would have done that, no matter how strong of will. But Amy wasn't the most normal of girls. She sat for almost 15 minutes, expertly tearing each piece of napkins into squares and processing what she'd heard.

Finally she clasped her hands together in front of her on the table and looked up, her blue eyes scared, but her gaze steady. "So we go back?" She asked. Relief flooded through me. I nodded. I started to rise, dropping money on the table for our drinks. Just as I'd slid out the booth, Amy spoke, her hand resting lightly on my arm.

"You have to promise me something first." Her eyes were more serious than I'd ever seen them. I tilted my head to the side slightly, inviting her to continue. "I need you to stop me by whatever means necessary if I go off the handles again. If I can't control this, I need you to stop me. Whatever it takes."

I nodded, "I promise."

"Whatever it takes?" She repeated, her voice insistent.

"Whatever it takes." I vowed, not knowing if I could really keep it. But she needed to hear it, and I was willing to take the risk of being dishonest if it kept her feeling safe.

**Amy's POV**

_I should have never let Alek persuade me_, I thought angrily as we climbed the stairs to the apartment. I'd run for a reason, and now I was walking into a confined space with the only people (apart from my Mum, Paul and Meredith) I really cared about hurting. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I stopped as Alek pushed open the door to the landing. He turned, his expression cautious, clearly picking up on my reluctance.

"Come on, Amy. We had a deal." He said, his tone somewhat exasperated. But a quick assessment of my clearly unimpressedness and he softened, moving forward so that we were standing only a few inches apart and held my gaze. The new proximity made my heart flutter and beat faster_. No, Amy! Bad thoughts. Potentially deadly bad thoughts._ "I would never let you do anything to hurt Chloe or Jasmine, and you know that. They mean to much to me. And despite our somewhat prickly relationship, I also care about you. If leaving is the best thing for you, just say and we'll go." I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off, "I can't let you go alone, Amy, and you know why. One of us will always be with you, and unless you want it to be Chloe…" A smirk lit his face slightly. Dammit! He knew he had me, the little bastard. But, honestly, I felt slightly better knowing Alek had my back.

Sighing, I nodded and said, "Just remember what you promised." Before sweeping my arm towards the door. His eyes held mine for a second more, then he turned and pushed the door open.

No sooner had Alek put the key in the lock, did the door swing open. Jasmine held it back to let us in. Alek entered first, heading towards the kitchen to unload the Chinese we'd bought. I followed cautiously, standing awkwardly to the side of the door as Jasmine closed it. She then moved closer, offering an open smile and giving my hand a small squeeze. Then she turned to follow Alek. "You'd better not have forgotten my noodles." She warned. This left me and Chloe alone - or as alone as one could get in an open-plan room. She stood from the couch, clearly unsure of how to act around me. Her caution broke my heart. I knew what I did was bad, but I'd never seen Chloe so uncertain around me. But she was still my best friend, and she read the disappointment in my face.

Moving forward more confidently this time, she pulled me into a hug. I wound my hands around her waist, allowing myself to be soothed my the calming sensation of her hand stroking my hair.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, my voice breaking as tears streamed down my face.

"Oh no you don't." Chloe replied, her voice firm. "I've had far worse from people I care far less about. And you were not in control of yourself. I'm just glad you're safe!"

She pulled out of the hug, wiping the tears from my cheeks, and leading me into the living room. She sat on the sofa, crossing her legs under herself, and I sat on the floor in front, just as we had when we were little, and I was upset. She then continued to stroke my hair. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Alek walked in, holding 2 plates piled high with an assortment of Chinese food. Jasmine followed with the third and forth plates.

"You girls kissed and made up, then?" Alek asked, putting one plate in front of me on the coffee table before flopping down next to Chloe and started shovelling food in a way only boys (and me after a bad break-up) could. Jasmine passed a plate to Chloe, and at the same time, Alek nudged me with his foot. I looked up, and he gave me the _everything okay?_

look. I nodded, smiling slightly. He smiled in return, before his food recaptured his attention.

The meal was quiet and, for a short time, I felt normal again. They talked about nothing, Alek and I quipped at each other, and I nearly forgot about what I was, and what a shit-storm my life had become.

But when the front door slammed open and Valentina strode in. I jumped at the noise, but was quickly calmed by Chloe stroking my hair and Alek - who had slid of the sofa to sit next to her earlier - rubbed soothing circles on my lower back.

"What news?" Jasmine said, getting up to follow her mother to the kitchen. Chloe also got up, but headed the other way to the bathroom.

"I'm fine." I whispered to Alek, who was still rubbing my back. "You can go talk to Valentina if you want."

Alek turned my way, his face serious, but his eyes dancing with mischief. "Nahh, she can come and talk to us. Anything she tells me and Jas, she's gonna have to tell you too."

At that moment, Valentina and Jasmine returned. Valentina raised an eyebrow at us, but said nothing. Instead she settled in an armchair opposite us.

"We have a lot to discuss."

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed. As always please review, it's lovely to hear what you guys think :)<strong>


	6. Chapter Five

**Sorry for the lack of update. Since finishing my exams I've been trying to find a job (which I now have :D It will mean slightly less frequent updates than I had initially anticipated.) and spending family and friend time with people I haven't seen in over 3 months. It's not an excuse, and I apologise, but I hope you understand and that this update makes up for it. :)**

***This is just a reprint of the same chapter. Panaricanchick kindly pointed out that I accidentally called Amy 'Lucy'. To answer your question, Lucy is the character in my other fanfic that I'm writing at the moment. Sorry for the mix up :P.***

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 5<span>**

**Alek's POV**

"We have a lot to discuss" Valentina stated, her voice all business. Amy visibly tensed in response to the shift in mood, the look on her face shifting towards that of fight-or-flight. I glared at Valentina, not appreciating her lack of sympathy and empathy. I knew it was just how she was, but her inability to show any sort of compassion in situations like these annoyed me to no end; a little sympathy can go a long way with a person who's had her whole world messed about in such a short space of time. But I also felt responsible for Amy, even more so than I had for Chloe, which was hard to believe seeing as I'd essentially appointed myself as Chloe's 24/7 bodyguard. But with Amy, there was something else. Chloe had a community to fit into and guide her through the difficult transition, but for Amy… well it was just her. And I knew Chloe and Paul would be there for her as much as they could, but friends - well family in the case of those three - had too much history. They saw you in some part as the little kid you'd once been, and would skirt around the hard truths to try to keep you happy, thinking in some way of that innocent little child you'd once been. No, Amy needed someone who she could trust to be honest with her, no matter how hard. Because she could handle it. I'd only known her a few months, and for most of them I'd kind of just dismissed her as being an annoying but permanent feature of my new life, but it was impossible to ignore that she was by far one of - if not the - strongest people I had ever met. That being said, I didn't want to make her suffer anymore than she needed to, but Valentina's ability of state things more delicately was practically non-existent. With her it was just 'these are the facts, man up about it'. It was a miracle Jasmine wasn't entirely screwed up by all of this.

Valentina noticed my look, which was none to subtle, paused and then in a rare moment of emotive understanding said, "But I need to do a bit more research. I've filled Jasmine in on everything I could find out from the council members visiting, without giving away too much of the situation."

"What do you mean, 'without giving away too much of the situation'?" Amy asked, her voice guarded. At that point, Chloe returned, sitting the on Amy's right and taking her hand. "I thought the Mai were the good team, why couldn't you just tell them the truth?"

"Because I know the council, and you don't. In fact, you didn't know about Mai until a few months ago." Valentina replied, sounding like she was berating an indignant child. That pissed me off, massively. She'd asked a good question and we all knew it, but Valentina decided we - or more importantly Amy - didn't deserve the full answer, just the watered down kiddy version.

I opened my mouth to argue this, as did Jasmine, who was sitting opposite, but we were both beat to the punch by a furious Amy. Her eyes were flashing, she stared straight at Valentina, holding her gaze. Her tone was cool, but not in the way it had been in the warehouse; this was pure Amy.

"I know you're not stupid Valentina, but do you honestly think berating my like a petulant child is the way to get me on side? Now, you are going to tell me why the council can't know about me, and then you are going to tell me everything you know, not the edited version you told Jasmine."

I smiled as Valentina's eyes narrowed, her nostrils flaring. She had pretty much the same attitude as I'd had towards Chloe's little human friends, but she didn't spend time with them, so in her head she clearly had made the assumption that they weren't worth her respect; to stupid and naïve to ever stand up to her. A foolish mistake to make, but one that I was glad she had made; someone needed to knock her off her pedestal.

"Fine." She finally replied. "I don't want to tell the council that we think you specifically, because I don't know what they'd do if I told them. So I said that there had seen activity, violent activity, that was well beyond the ability of any demi-God." Amy sank slightly when Valentina said "violent", her face paling and her eyes filling with guilt. I tapped her on the back, where my hand was still resting, the whole time since Valentina had returned rubbing circles on her lower back, to sooth and show support. She turned her head, and I gave her my best "don't-you-dare-let-Valentina-trick-you-into-feeling-guilty" look, one I had used with Jasmine so many times, but not expecting her to understand. But she did, giving a small nod and the ghost of a smile. But the guilt didn't fully leave her eyes; no matter how much she knew Valentina was trying to get her to stop asking for the full truth, giving Valentina back all the authority (just how she liked it), she still felt immense levels of guilt over what had happened in the warehouse. I glanced at Chloe, who had been watching mine and Amy's exchange. Her face was concerned, clearly seeing the guilt in her best friends face, and like me having no idea what to do about it.

"And what did they say?" Amy asked after a considerably weighted silence, her voice quiet, but calm and clear. I felt an odd sense of pride, which I didn't really understand. I had spent the entire time I'd known Amy either ignoring her, taking the piss out of her or being annoyed by her uselessness in keeping Chloe safe, but now, well now he was paying proper attention to her; finally seeing the true Amy Harkin rather than the ditzy, annoying, stupid girly-girl Chloe-shadow.

Valentina paused, clearly trying to figure out if she could get away with missing stuff out. But as her face became ever so slightly irked, which means the whole truth had won out. "They said that the Daughter of Sekhmet is the only solution they could think of, but the knowledge of the council is locked away in the vaults and they'll have to get back to us on the details." She paused, clearly not wanting to say the final bit of her meeting. Sighing, she finally continued, "And they said that if we discover who the Daughter of Sekhmet is, we should use any means necessary to… detain them. They should not be allowed around humanity, or be left alone. I've been order to put at least five highly trained Mai acting as guards."

Everyone was silent, not really knowing what to say. Finally, Amy shifted, moving away from me and Chloe. I watched her nervously, not knowing want to expect and for some reason missing the contact, wanting to move and maintain the proximity.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" She asked, sounding sad but not shocked. Clearly she hadn't expected this to go well. "You're going to get your five super-Mai and post them at the exits, and keep me here like a dangerous animal under constant supervision." She was getting more angry by the end of the sentence, her hands balled into small fists, knuckles bone white.

"Yes." Valentina replied immediately, not guilt or remorse in her voice. "You're volatile, unpredictable and dangerous. We can't let you leave and be around humans until we know you're safe."

Amy breathed in deep, and shut her eyes, taking in what had been said. And then her eyes opened again her eyes steely and unforgiving; worryingly close to warehouse-Amy. Chloe and I exchanged a glance, noticing the change, and gave a helpless shrug. Amy lifted her icy eyes to hold Valentina's gaze.

"No." She said, her voice emotionless.

"Excuse me?" Valentina said, her voice dropping with disbelief. Mistake number two by Valentina; everyone else in the room knew Amy wasn't going to go down without a fight, both verbal and physical.

"No." She repeated. "I appreciate that you're going to follow your orders and do what's best, but you know nothing about me, and I'm not staying here. I'll stay tonight, because that's been okayed by my mum, but that's it. So you are going to have to figure out how you can get your Mai council brownie points without fucking up my life anymore than all of you and all of this already has."

Valentina smiled sadly, her voice genuinely remorseful. "I'm sorry, Amy. I didn't want it to come to this." As she spoke she grabbed something from her pocket, her wrist flicking. Amy was too close to react quickly enough, the mysterious object striking her. Her eyes widened in shock before she slumped forward, head smacking the edge of the coffee table then falling to the floor where she lay crumpled.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked. And as always, please review! x<strong>


	7. Chapter Six

**As always sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy this next segment :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Alek's POV**

I carried Amy into my room, gently laying her on the bed, checking her head for any serious damage. There was a small gash just above her temple, but nothing that would require serious medical attention. Chloe hovered nervously in the corner of the room, trusting me to check her best friend was okay, well as okay as she could be. I then gingerly removed the tiny dart from her arm and stormed back into the living room. Valentina hadn't moved from her seat, but she was now reclined and relaxed, waiting for the onslaught of questions, but not really caring about the answers.

"What the hell was that?!" I hissed, holding the dart inches from her face. Jasmine came to stand beside me, her arms crossed, her face a storm.

"I may have left out the last bit. Although the council needs to consult the archives, they have always been prepared for the possibility of this happening. The compound used in that dart has been passed down for generations and every district council has a supply for the chance that the Daughter of Sekhmet might be found in their area, for the exact reasons I told Amy - she's volatile, untrained and unpredictable. All it does is dulls her powers, until we know what we need to do."

"You drugged her!" I yelled. "Do you know how epically stupid that was? She doesn't trust us, and now she has the perfect evidence to back that up! How do you think she'll be when she wakes up, or do you just plan on drugging her until you decide what to do?"

Valentina rose, and using all the authority, condescension and superiority that only adults can muster, "Yes, that is exactly what I'm going to do if I have to, and you will not interfere." And then she left. We heard the study door slam and the lock click into place, signalling the end of that particular argument.

I slumped down on the couch, feeling drained. Jasmine slowly lowered herself next to me.

"Chloe's never going to agree to this." She said quietly, her voiced pained and sad. "But if mum has decided that's what we're gonna do, we have to." It clearly hurt her to say that, but her submissive nature really pissed me off.

"No we don't." I said, and she winced at the thinly veiled anger in my voice. "I'm not Valentina's minion, I don't have to what she says without question like a mindless drone, and I certainly won't betray Amy's trust like that."

"Since when have you cared about Amy?" Jasmine asked, her voice amused but marred a little by defensiveness. Clearly, I'd struck a nerve. "I think I remember on several occasions you referring to her as 'annoying', 'fickle', 'useless' and I'm pretty certain at one point 'literally the biggest waste of space you'd ever met'."

I winced, knowing perfectly well of the several slurs I had made against Amy, most - if not all - of which had been entirely undeserved.

"Yeah, well I've seen the light. She's deserves better than being some drugged up science experiment, which is exactly what will happen if the council have their way. They'll see her as a project, 'The Daughter of Sekhmet', and forget that she's a person and deserves way more respect than that." I sighed, knowing I wasn't mad at Jasmine, but at the system that although generally good, had some glaring prejudices that we had both been brought up not to question. And before we found out Chloe was the Uniter, well really right up until we'd found Amy in the warehouse, we had both done just that; followed unquestioningly. But I couldn't do that anymore. That inexplicable protectiveness I'd felt over Amy earlier was back, and I knew, no matter how illogical, I was going to do whatever I thought was right to keep her safe. And I knew in my gut that allowing the council to have full reign over her life was not safe for her. She needed to maintain some level of control over her life, or she'd be the lab test of the council until the day of reckoning, whenever and wherever that might be. And I would not let that be her life.

There was a long silence between us, both of us trying to sort through our confused and jumbled thoughts. Eventually Jasmine whispered, "I don't know how we can help her." I looked at her and saw the fear and frustration in her face; she was on my side, on Amy's side.

"We talk to Amy, see what she wants and then go from there." I said.

**Amy's POV**

I felt like someone had filled my head with rocks, too heavy to move and blindingly painful. I cautiously opened my eyes, attempting to create a slit as small as physically possible to be able to assess where I was and why I felt like I'd had my brain beaten up.

"I wouldn't do that just yet if I were you." Alek's voice drifted from my left. "It'll feel like the worst hangover you've ever had times by… God knows how much, but I'm guessing a hell of a lot. Valentina said the compound was designed to knock out your specific band of demi-god, so we're not entirely sure on what the aftershock'll be like. And before you yell and curse, or pout and glare, I had no idea she would do that." The last part was entirely sincere and just a bit panicked, as if he was genuinely worried that I wouldn't believe him.

I sighed, keeping my eyes closed, but turning my head towards him. "I know, roofies just doesn't seem like your type of move; would damage your ego too much if extreme drugging was required for you to get a girl into bed." I smiled slightly as I spoke. This small pocket of normality, of our pointless banter, was nice even though I knew it would last only these precious few seconds.

He chuckled softly, "Ahh, you know me so well after so little time." There was a short silence, which finally Alek broke, "Amy, I'm gonna be honest with you, not that Valentina will be happy to hear that I have been. Her plan is essentially, keep drugging you until you realise that they wont let you go or until they figure out how much of a threat you are to the Mai. But that's not right; frankly it's just plain creepy. But they're not seeing you as you, they're seeing you as essentially an unstable weapon - it could be useful, but will be disposed of if concluded to be dangerous to the Mai." I flinched at the last part. "Sorry." Alek added awkwardly, noting my reaction.

"Don't be." I said, braving opening my eyes a fraction. It hurt, but not so much more that sitting in the dark of my own head was worth it. I opened them fully, to see Alek's worried and grim face staring back at me. "This was never going to be a happy fluffy rainbows-and-kittens conversation. But Alek, I can't stay here. I'm not a thing and by staying I take away all my leverage. Once I'm outside of the council's control I have something to bargain with."

Alek continued to stare, letting the silence drag out. I couldn't read his expression to see if I had any chance of finding an ally here.

Sighing, he dragged his hands through his hair, "I know. But I honestly don't see any way of this playing out without the council winning. They are ruthless when they feel they need to be, and two teenage Mai, the Uniter and you are not enough to stand a chance against them." He leaned his face into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. He had a point, but little chance was better than none at all, and I had no other option. We sat in silence, both trying to think desperately of some sort of escape route. Finally, a scenario began playing in my mind.

"I may have an idea." I said.

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><p><strong>As ever reviews are much appreciated! Happy Holidays! X<strong>


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